Amalgamator



l(No Model.)

- 2 sheets-sheet 1'. J. WEIRICH.

AMALGAMATOR.

No. 377,590. Wanted Peb. 7.188,8.

Figi

I To aZZ whom it may concern:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. y

JULEs WEIRICH, F RzIERs, HERAULT, FRANCE.

AMALGAMATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming pari:l of Letters Patent No. 377,590, dated February '7, 1888.

Application filed December 8, 1885. Serial No. 185,066. (No model.) Patented in France October 19, 1885, N o. 171,735; in Eng* land October 27, 1885, No. 19,909; in Brazil JannaryQZ, 1886, No, 318 in Canada February 10, 1886, No. 23,391 in India Felaruary 12, 1886, No. 19; in Victoria February 19,1886, No.4,437,- in Italy March 2, 1886, No. 19,319; in .New Zealand March 8, .1886, N o. 1,741 nvenezuela March 27, 1886; in Austria-Hungary May 1, 1886, No.41,041 and No. 16,108, and in New South Wales May 3, 1886, No. 1,816.

Be it known that I, J ULEs WEIRICH, acitizen of France, residing at Bziers, in the Department of Hrault, have invented certain new and useful VImprovements in Amalgamators, (for which Letters .Patentl have been grantedin Great Britain, No. 12,909, dated October 27,1885; in France, No. 171,735, dated.

October 19, 1885; in Italy, No. 19,319, dated March 2, 1886; in Brazil, N 0.313, dated January 23, 1886; in Venezuela, dated March '27, 1886, (no number;) in Austria-Hungary, No. 41,041 and No. 16,108, dated May'l, 1886; in India, No. 19, dated February 12, 1886; in Victoria, No. 4,437, dated, February 19,1886; in New South Wales, No. 1,816, datedMayS, 1886; in Canada, No. 23,391, dated February 10, 1886, Aand in New Zealand, No. 1,741, March 8, 1886 and I do hereby declare the yfollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in amalgamators, and although especially designed for the recovery of precious metals from the refuse or tailings of mines, to which I will confine the description, yet it will be obvious that said apparatus may be employed-for the extraction of such l metals from their ores.

The object of this invention isto provide a simple apparatus for recovering, if not all, at

.neness In the recovery of precious metals from tailings I proceed as follows: The tailings are first reduced to a very fine powder, in some cases so fine that they will pass through asilk bolting-cloth having a mesh of No. 100 or No. 120. This Vreduction may be effected in any suitable 'apparatus or by any suitable agency-as, for lnstance, in a grinding ora stamp mill-or by passing 'the tailings through a (arr"7 or Vappart machine, or any other analogous machine, apparatus', or means whereby the Inaterial may be reducedto the proper degree of The ground material is classitied according to the degree of iinene'ss, and such as is not of the required fineness is returned to the reducing apparatus. The tailings may be ground 1n a dry or wet state, and the classification may be effected by dry sifting or by f gravity in water iny a succession of settlingtanks. In the latter process care should, however, be had that the particles of precious metal or metals are not carried out of the settlingtanks when the water is drawn oft'.

The diiiiculty of preventing loss of the prec ious metals inthe latter process of classification 1s well known, and for this reason I prefer to classify the reduced material in a dry condition by passing the same through suit'- j nature of the tailings) which c ntains a quantity of mercury equal to one thousand or two thousand times the weighty of the precious metal or metals combined.V with such tailings.

The vamalgamator shown. in the drawings consists, essentially, of a semi-cylindrical pan,

B, supported from any suitable frame or support, of wood or masonry or metal, of proper strength to carry the 'weight and contents lol the pan,and its stirring mechanism. In suitble bearings secured to the pan B or its sup'- port ismounted a rock-shaft, G, on a line with the longitudinal axis of the pan B and above the same, the said pan being a'rranged so that its bottoinwill be perfectly horizontal.A On shaft C is secured an agitator, E, composed o f an agitator-blade, e, of the form shown in Fig.

1, of a longitudinal girt, e', and cross and angle braces el e, respectively.

Any suitable material may be employed in the construction of the pan and its stirrer; but, of course, when acid bat-hs are employed metal will not answer. The girt e has two or more sockets or sleeves, e4, for the reception of radial arms e5, that are screw-threaded at their outer ends and carry adjusting-nuts F for adjusting the agitator E relatively to the inner surface of the pan.

It is obvious that by the means described a yielding connection is provided for the agitator E, thatallows it to move toward or from the shaft within certain limits. This is necessary in order that the agitator may ride over obstructions should,by accident,anything find its way into the pan t-hat would obstruct its operation.

In operation the agitator should be so adjusted that the edge of 'its blade e will move in frictional contact with the inner surface of the pan. An oscillating or rocking movement is imparted to the agitator through a crank, D, on shaft C, either by hand or otherwise, and the amplitude of the oscillations should be limited by the level of the bathin the pan B, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and the depth of this-bath will vary according to the nature of the material treated aud its degree of Iineness-say from about 0.60 centimeter to about l meter (more or less) in depth.

At one end of the pan B is a vertical gateway, G, in which operates a gate, H, to which issecured a screw-rod, J, that works in a screwthreaded opening formed in a bearing, K, also secured to the pan or its support, and said screw-rod is operated, by means of a handwheel, I, to raise or lower the gate when a portion of the contents of the pan is to be discharged.

The operation of amalgamation is carried out as follows: The mercurial neutral or acid,

bath is prepared, the quantity of mercury depending upon the percentage of precious metals in the tailings. If the latter contains about one hundred grams to the ton, about one hundred and fifty or two hundred kilograms of mercury per ton will be necessary. The iinely-pulverized material is introduced into the bath and the agitator set in operation. The time required for effecting a thorough separation and amalgamation of a ton of such material will depend on its nature-we will, as an example, say about four hours,which,with the time required for charging and discharging the pan, will be about six hours, or four operations for each twenty-four hours, so that in six days twenty-four tons of material may be operated upon, yielding about two thousand four'hundred grams ofprecious metal,ofwhich fully two thousand grams will have been amalgamatcd with the mercury and can be recovered by distillation. Of course the duration of the process will vary according to the nature of the material operated upon, as stated, and will generally be from three to six hours. The agitator should be operated slowly, so as to keep the bath in as quiescent a state as possible, and by this uniform and constant agitation the particles of the material are kept in suspension in the bath and tend by gravity as constantly to precipitate. During this repeated agitation and precipitation in a bath comparatively quiescent the density of the partieles-i. e., their relative specific gravty--acts as a means for classifying or sorting the material, which classification is perfected and completed as the operation is prolonged. The heavier precious metal or metals, being precipitated first and meeting the strata and little drops of mercury at the bottom of the pan, are amalgamated therewith. Vhen this operation has been continued for such a length of time, according to the material treated, that the operation of amalgamation may be considered as completed,

the gate I-I is gradually lowered by means of the screw-rod .I and hand-wheel I, the agitation of the bath being at the4 same time kept up and a stream of water allowed to tlow into the pan.

It will be observed that the agitaton so called, although it keeps up a very slight agitation of the bath during its operation, said agitation is simply the sequence of its function, which is not to agit-ate the bath to any extent, but to continuously change the molecular relations of the mercury, so as to continu ously present fresh surfaces to the subsiding metals. vrlhe function of the agitator is therefore intended to be primarily that of a spreader and incidentally that of an agitator, since but a very slight agitation is required to hold in suspension mineral matter reduced to the state of subdivision referred to. To this end I provide the agitator with a blade that is rectangular in cross-section and so arrange the blade that it will present one of its angles to the inner surfaces of the pan. rIhe blade e of the agitator E therefore presents two inclined surfaces to the mercury, and as said blade moves almost in contact with the bottom of the pan the mercury is thereby spread over the surface of the pan, thus accomplishing the purposes sought.

The mineral matter held in suspension in the bath may be conducted into settlingtanks if such matter has any intrinsic value and it is desired to utilize it.

The gate should not be lowered sufficiently to allow any of the mercury and amalgam to escape, and to prevent'the accidental discharge of mercury and amalgam the discharge-opening does not extend quite into the lowest point of the interior of the pan.

Instead of the provisions described for discharging a portion of the contents of the pan, its end wall may be provided with a series of tap-holes at dierent elevations from the lowest point of the interior of the pan, as will be readily understood, or the partial discharge may be ei'ected by means of siphons or in any other desired manner.

TOO

IIO

When the operation of discharging is completed, there willremain in the pan the mercury, the amalgam, and a Very small proportion of the heavier particles of mineral matter. The discharge-opening of the pan is now closed and the stream ofwater, when the pan has been filled to theA required level, cut off and a fresh charge of tinely-pulverized tailings inceiver.

Theinal washing is effected in the usual well-known manner to free the mercury and amalgam from mineral matter, and the precious met-al or metals are separated from the mercury by distillation in apclose retort, the mercury being recovered in the'well-known way for further use.

Having now' described my invention, what I claim is- A l. In an amalgamator, the combination, with a semi-cylindrical pan, of a spreader having an oscillating movement, and provided with a blade of rectangular form in cross-section arranged to present one of its angles to the inner surface of the pan, and a crank on the spreadershaft for oscillating the spreader, substantially Vas and for the purpose specied.

' 2. In an amalgamator,'thecombination,with a semi-cylindrical pan,of a rock-shaft, means, such as described, for imparting to said shaft a rocking motion, a spreader provided with a blade of substantial] y rectangular form in crosssectionarranged to present one of its angles A to the inner surface of the pan, and a yieldingv connection between the spreader and its rockshaft, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereofl afx my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' JULES WEIRIGH.

Witnesses:

E. SAVARY, A. BAILLE. 

